I'm not a huge fan of chrome, but replacing the ring with black plastic looks cheap. If anything it should be matte black metal if they want a more modern look.
Blacking out vehicles chrome is the "cool" thing to do nowadays. I like the newer version better personally - I suspect generational variances will view this differently.
I do think a shiny or metal black would look even better.
Wonder if had anything to do with the thousands of vehicles that were being held due to lack of badges? This style probably is cheaper and easier to make since it doesn't have to go through the chrome cladding process. Illumination could be correct as well but I'd think they would have to get some DOT approval if they were going to make it glow while moving.